The Throne of Many Swords
by CreatorZorah
Summary: With another prophecy looming over Harry's head, an interdimensional rift takes him and his friends to another universe, where they're forced to fight to survive and get a chance of going back home.
1. Harry I

_Well, I was unsure if I wanted to write a story for the crossover. I'm not sure I'll be able to continue it, but I had this irresistible urge to write it. Please don't expect me to update it on a regular basis. It's a sketch._

_I have to warn you, that it's been years since I read the first four books. After watching the TV show I may confuse events from the books with the events from the show. If you think I do something wrong, tell me, please :)_

_**WARNING: if you're familiar with the works of G.R.R. Martin you're aware that it's a cruel universe. Therefore expect me to be cruel.**_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**_

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**The Throne of Many Swords**

by CreatorZorah

Harry I

"_The rift will bring the five… two will be paid in iron. The one will have to claim the many swords, for two cannot return... unless the one, who lived twice, takes the swords._"

Harry groaned and slapped his forehead as the Trelawney's head fell forward onto her chest. He wished he hadn't come to Hogwarts for the seventh year. Hopefully, he was mistaken and wasn't one of the subjects of her third prophecy. The first one was more than enough. Harry glanced at Hermione, who was standing beside him, looking disturbed by Trelawney's words.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Professor Trelawney said. "I think I drifted off for a second."

Harry sighed and shook his head. It wasn't happening _again..._ "You should. probably, get some rest, Professor."

"Yes, it's a wonderful idea," she agreed and headed away from Harry and Hermione.

The pair moved swiftly to a more private area of the castle, making their way through the crowded halls of Hogwarts. He had always been a celebrity of the Wizarding World, but after Voldemort's defeat, Harry, who disliked the attention, found himself tormented by single-minded blushing witches… and wizards.

Once they entered one of the less used rooms of the ancient castle, Hermione closed the door and used as many privacy charms as possible.

"Hermione, don't be paranoid," Harry said with a snort, looking at his friend who was doing her best job securing the room.

The witch frowned and sat at the table. "Let's avoid repeating the same mistakes. Honestly, did you forget what happened when her first prophecy was overheard?"

"Alright, alright," he agreed, taking a seat beside her, "You're right. However, I don't think this prophecy was as important as the first one."

"Let's see," she said, taking a piece of parchment out of her robe. "I'll write it down."

While she was writing, Harry asked, "So, what do you think did she mean by the rift bringing the five?"

"I'm not sure." Hermione sighed massaging her temples.

Harry sat down beside Hermione and said, "The way she spoke about the two and the one makes me wonder if the five are people too. We should get Ron."

"Let's not worry him; perhaps it's just a bogus, like the most 'prophecies' she tells," Hermione said and looked intently at the written-down prophecy. "Supposedly the five are people. What will bring them, where… or, rather, where from? What's far more important, who are these five?"

Harry had an idea. "Considering my uncanny ability to get into every kind of mess..."

"You don't know that," Hermione disagreed. But her eyes weren't as confident as she tried to sound. "The five could be anyone."

"Hermione, she said, 'he, who lived twice'. It's pretty obvious to me."

Hermione paused, studying the prophecy. "Let's assume you _are_ one of the five. Then, for some reason you would need to… claim swords. What the many swords are supposed to mean?"

Harry shook his head. He had absolutely no idea what that could mean. The whole prophecy made only little sense to him, but he knew that it could contain vital information about his future.

Hermione bit down on her lip, and muttered, "And what does iron mean in the context?"

"I have a bad feeling about it," Harry said quietly. "Sort of."

Hermione shrugged. "It might be anything. I believe there is a part of the prophecy for each of the five. Five people will get into some mess, two of them will receive some kind of payment in iron for… whatever. The other two will get back…"

"And I will claim the swords I have no need for, whatever the bloody thing means," Harry interrupted Hermione.

"No," Hermione said, "the prophecy says you'll have to claim the swords for the two to return. It doesn't mean you'll do it or will be able to."

"I may ignore this part of the prophecy until my saving people thing kicks in," Harry said with a smile.

Hermione smacked him on shoulder. "Harry, I'm serious."

"Well, it's truth, isn't it?"

Hermione didn't answer, instead she turned to look at the parchment with the prophecy again. It was a riddle and Harry didn't want to hinder her. If there were hidden meanings, he wouldn't find a better person to uncover them.

"I'm worried about the three who won't return and, most of all, you being one of them," Hermione said finally. "The whole thing makes little sense taken out of context like this. We have no idea what the rift might mean, what the bloody hell the many swords are."

Harry sighed. If Hermione didn't know the answer, there was no way to tell what the prophecy meant. Most likely, of course.

"Then let's forget about it until it actually makes some sense." offered Harry. "There is no reason to worry about something that might happen in hundred years. It might have absolutely nothing with me too. There is, perhaps a second person, who lived twice."

Hermione bit her lip, but said, "You're right, probably."

Harry knew that she would search through thousands of books in her attempts to understand the message Professor Trelawney had given them. Hermione disliked unsolved riddles. He hoped that she wouldn't worry too much about it though. They had gone through enough shit already and the last thing she needed is another damn prophecy.

Days, weeks and months went by; Harry forgot about the prophecy. It was still somewhere in the darkest corner of his mind, but he was enjoying his life and didn't want to think about some vague insights into the future. Sometimes he saw Hermione looking for the answers in the library, but after two months even she had given up.

Soon the last year at Hogwarts was finally over; Harry and Ron began their auror training, while Hermione decided to take a position at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Ginny said yes to Harry's proposal, making him the happiest man on Earth. He had always longed for a family and it seemed that it his dream would be fulfilled.

It was one of those seemingly perfect summer days. The sky was blue without even a hint of whiteness. Harry couldn't wish for a better weather - it was neither cold nor too warm. Just right for a free weekend. Yet he felt very unusual today, as though something was leeching on his magic. He had already spoken worriedly to Hermione about it, and she had explained that it had something to do with a very rare position of the celestial bodies. Astronomy had never been his favorite class.

Strangely, his subconsciousness decided to remind him about the prophecy at this very day and he felt unease because of that. He hated coincidences.

"Harry, are you listening?"

Ginny's voice interrupted his thoughts. He shook his head and said, "Sorry, I had something on my mind."

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "Mind to share it with us?"

His eyes flickered to Hermione's and for a few moments he contemplated telling them what he was thinking about. Then he thought about the wedding and decided to keep it to himself. Ginny was nervous nervous enough because of the wedding. Telling her about the prophecy at the moment would be unwise. On the other hand, perhaps she had the right to know that he could be taken by some mysterious rift.

"It's nothing," he said at last.

"Right," Ginny said. "We were asking you if you weren't against a visit to the Flourish & Blotts. Hermione and I wanted to buy some books."

"Of course Hermione wants to buy some books..."

"Be silent," Hermione said dramatically, "if you don't want me to tell Ginny about the new broom you bought..."

"Harry James Potter!" said Ginny.

"You traitor," he whined, scratching his head.

Harry's love for flight and good brooms gave him an idea of starting a broom collection. Unfortunately, his childhood with the Dursleys hadn't taught him to spend money wisely. By the time Ginny had noticed what he had been doing, he had spent almost everything his parents had left for him. In his defence, he hadn't visited his vault, getting his gold from goblins in the main hall and therefore hadn't been aware of how much he had spent. He was a proud owner of hundred seventy three brooms now.

"It was a cheap one, Ginny," he explained. "Three Galleons."

"More like three hundred," Hermione corrected him ignoring the glare she was getting from him.

"I've got a sudden urge to strangle him," the redhead said softly.

Harry sighed. "It's an irresistible broom!"

"You promised that you won't buy another broom until you actually get a job. "

"That was the last one."

"I'll hex you into the next millennium, if it wasn't."

He was a little bit displeased with Hermione for spilling the secret, but he knew that she was right. He had seriously messed up and Hermione was still quite angry at him. That aside, he was going to be an auror-in-training for two more years. He was probably the best fighter, but he knew next to nothing about the laws of the Wizarding World. Aurors were very well paid, but a trainee's salary was barely enough to survive. Therefore Harry was a broke. Well… not exactly. He could sell his broom collection and get his thousands Galleons back, but neither Ginny nor Harry wanted to sell the brooms.

Unlike him Ginny had gotten into the Holyhead Harpies the moment she had stepped out of the Hogwarts. Therefore the three hundred Galleons had actually been Ginny's. As a rising star of the team, her salary was quite high. He couldn't help but feel bad about using her gold like this, but it was the broom!

"What was the broom, anyway?" she asked.

"Sykes' Oakshaft 79," he answered.

"You're kidding me!" Ginny exclaimed, getting excited. "Where did you get it?! Are you sure it's the real thing?"

"Yep," Harry said proudly, "bought it directly from her granddaughter."

"And you paid only three hundred Galleons?"

"I may have used my, well..." Harry blushed.

"Your what?"

The whole affair involved him drugged with some kind of ridiculously powerful potion by the said granddaughter when he had stupidly agreed to drink tea. The potion had turned him into a mindless thrall under her control. Harry had absolutely no recollection of the day.

The potion had been bought from a shady wizard in the Knockturn Alley and she had thought it were a weak love potion, which are completely legal in the Wizarding World. The poor eighteen years young witch hadn't expected it to enslave him. The witch panicked and decided to keep him dozed with the potion in the fear of ending up in Azkaban.

Thankfully, being his usual paranoid self after the war, he had told Hermione about his trip and she had saved him. Again. He knew that he should have reported the crime, but the witch had been scared out of her mind and he was sure that she had learned the lesson. Instead he had gotten the broom for three hundred Galleons and the name of the wizard who had sold the potion.

"My... undeniable attractiveness?"

He wasn't afraid of giving her impression that he had cheated on her. She knew that he wouldn't.

She sighed. "Even if you'd done something bad, I'd forgive you… It's Sykes' Oakshaft for Merlin's sake! I'm totally going to fly on it today," she said dreamily reminding him of Luna somehow. "But you will spend this night on a coach. For committing the sin of hiding this treasure from me."

Hermione covered her face with a palm. "You two are insane."

The Diagon Alley was full of witches and wizards, who, like Harry, Ginny and Hermione, decided to take advantage of the wonderful weather. Thankfully it wasn't the time when armies of annoying children were swarming the Alley buying stuff for Hogwarts yet, otherwise it wouldn't be an enjoyable day anymore.

He recalled his first time at the Diagon Alley. Everything had seemed weird and magical… Now he was used to it. Harry felt a twinge of sadness when he realized that the Wizarding World became less mysterious for him over the years. Though visits to the Gringotts were quite fun ever since his break-in. The goblins had agreed to let it slide, but they hadn't forgiven him.

"I see having one girlfriend not enough for you anymore, Potter."

Harry rolled his eyes and turned around to see his self-proclaimed arch-rival. The blond was looking at him with a smirk. Beside him stood four very familiar Slytherins: Blaise Zabini, Tracey Davis and Daphne Greengrass. Another unfamiliar younger woman was holding hands with Draco. She bore a great resemblance to the blond-haired Slytherin, Daphne, but had rather beautiful black hair.

Harry nodded, greeting them.

"Well, I have to uphold my reputation as a celebrity," he said. "One girlfriend is too boring."

Hermione gave him an elbow in the ribs. "The fame has finally gotten to his head," she said.

Harry groaned. "Which side are you on, Hermione?" He smiled and looked at the woman beside Draco. "So… are you going to introduce me to this lovely lady?"

The war had changed many people. One of them was Draco, who had made his way into the politics, trying to change the world for the better. He was still quite arrogant, but his belief in pure-blood supremacy was gone. He had helped Hermione to force through new laws about magical creatures, and since that moment she was quite fond of him.

"The lovely lady is Astoria Greengrass," answered Draco, "my fiancee."

"Oh… I'm glad to meet you," Harry said.

But the moment he touched her hand, he sensed a horrible shift in his magic. He looked around quickly and saw that he wasn't the only one affected by the phenomena. For some reason he felt drained and judging by Astoria's pale face, he knew that the same thing happened to her too. Others were shaken as well.

"What the fuck was that?!" Draco shouted.

Harry heard a horrible screeching sound as something began to tear apart the very fabric of reality. It looked like a hole, a growing hole in the reality that was growing bigger right between Harry and Astoria. People around them screamed, running away.

"I can't get away!" Draco's fiancee shouted in panic.

Harry couldn't either. He was fighting for every foot as the hole began to suck in everything close enough to it. Hermione and Ginny were desperately pulling him away from the anomaly, just as Daphne and Tracey were trying to help Draco and Astoria.

It was very difficult to move, but Harry managed to take out his wand and point it at Astoria. The spell banished her and Draco away from the hole. Unfortunately it instantly found other victims. The pull grew stronger and he saw Daphne and Tracey fall into the anomaly. He was about to push away Hermione and Ginny, but was too late. The pull became too strong and the three flew right into the anomaly.

It felt a lot like traveling by portkey, but much worse. Harry felt unimaginable pain comparable to the one that had been inflicted on him by Riddle's Cruciatus Curse. His eyes were closed but he saw lights of all possible colours.

And then he fell onto something with a soft thud. He growled and sat down, trying to get hold of his wand, but found it missing. Right beside him were Daphne, Tracey, Ginny and Hermione. He didn't waste time on asking if they were alright, he saw that they were relatively unharmed, instead he looked around studying the surroundings. They were on a forest's edge just twenty metres from a sea.

"What the hell happened?" Daphne asked.

"It's… the rift," Hermione whispered.

The realization dawned on Harry and he paled at the thoughts of all implications. He tried searched through the ground to find his wand, but it was just not there. He cursed. Wherever they were, he wasn't looking forward being here without his wand. Harry went to Ginny and helped her to get on her feet.

"What do you mean by the rift?" she asked.

"When Harry and I were back at Hogwarts," Hermione explained in a calm voice as she searched for something. "Trelawney made a prophecy."

"Trelawney?" Tracey snorted. "She's fraud."

Hermione shook her head. "As ridiculous as it sounds, she's not. Sybill Trelawney was the one who predicted Voldemort's fall at Harry's hand."

"It doesn't matter, if she's fraud or not," Harry said. "This prophecy seems to be a true one."

Hermione gave him a nod, continuing, "The exact wording was: '_The rift will bring the five… two will be paid in iron. The one will have to claim the many swords, for two cannot return... unless the one, who lived twice, takes the swords.''_"

"Why didn't you tell me about it?" Ginny demanded accusingly.

Harry shrugged. "What would I tell you?" he asked. "We were unable to comprehend it until now."

"Still..."

Thankfully Daphne choose exactly this moment to ask, "Where's my wand? Did anyone see my wand?"

"I don't have it either!" Tracey exclaimed in panic.

Harry sighed. "It seems the rift didn't let our wands through."

"Wands are insignificant, we can always make them," Hermione said. "Anyone has any idea about where we are?"

"Somehow, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore," Harry muttered.

That confused everyone except Hermione. "Kansas? What do you mean?" Ginny asked.

Hermione smiled weakly. "I think likewise. The rift took us to another world."


	2. Daphne I

**The Throne of Many Swords**

_by CreatorZorah_

Daphne I

"What do you mean?" Tracey asked furrowing her eyebrows.

Unlike Tracey, Daphne understood what the two had meant by another world. Theoretical magic was one of her strengths and she was aware of a few theories that implied existence of multiple universes parallel to each other. Implications, however, were most bothersome. All her knowledge was useless when she was trying to explain, how they had gotten here. There wasn't a single plausible theory about travelling between the worlds.

"She means there is no London here... to return to," Daphne said, trying to fight rising panic. "However, I must ask how you came to the conclusion."

"What do you mean by no...?"

Daphne raised her hand and spoke, "Tracey, stop panicking and be silent for a moment."

Tracey frowned, but complied. The redhead had never been very bright, but she was a good friend and a very nice person. Sometimes these qualities were more important than anything else though.

"Well, try to apparate for instance," Hermione said.

Daphne blinked and tried to make a short distance apparition. It failed, however. Apparition required ambient magic and it seemed that though magic was there, it wasn't nearly enough to successfully apparate.

"Alright," she said. "That doesn't mean that it's another world, however."

"Yes, it's possible that we're in one of magically less developed parts of our world," Hermione agreed easily, "but take a look at the sun position and the climate."

Hermione nodded at the sea and said, "North is there."

"How do you know that?" Harry asked.

"I have a compass," she explained, demonstrating the muggle device in her hand.

"Neat," he said.

"The sun is, however, in the southern part of the sky. Considering all this and the climate, I'm quite certain that we're in the northern hemisphere. I'm quite certain that there are no magical wild zones that would match this place. Most of them are in the south."

There was still another explanation. "Artificial climate, perhaps?" she offered.

Hermione shook her head. "Weather control would require a powerful source of magic and we would practically bathe in ambient magic."

"Right," Daphne muttered stiffly.

The realization that they really were in another world filled her with dread. Hermione was right; there were no magical wild zones that would match this place.

"Daph, are we really in another world?" Tracey asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," she replied in a shaking voice.

"What should we do? How do we get back?"

"Calm down, we'll find a way," Daphne said recalling the words of the prophecy.

Prophecies were very tricky things, because they allowed many interpretations. All of the interpretations could be correct, because the fulfilment always depended strongly on the people mentioned in the prophecy. She could only hope that there was a way back home.

"Now, I know a bit about wandlore," Hermione said softly. "I'm, however, by no means an expert in the area. Perhaps someone of you can offer a better input than me. I'm sure all of you realize that we need wands as soon as possible. Well?"

Daphne wondered how Hermione could stay so calm and focused considering the situation.

"I'm not an expert either, but I studied wandlore for two years at Hogwarts," she said.

Hermione let out a sigh of relief and nodded. "Good. How would you go about making new wands?"

"Judging by the levels of ambient magic, I'm not sure we'll find anything suitable for the wand cores. However, we can use our hair or blood. Preferably the latter, because hair tend to be weak in the areas of low magic density."

"Blood magic is forbidden," Ginny pointed out. Potter's fiancée had been silent until now, clearly upset with Harry for keeping secrets from her.

Daphne sighed. "Do we have a choice? Besides, it's forbidden to avoid improper use of it, because people tend to push the limits. In case of blood magic it may lead to human sacrifices. There is no Ministry to regulate the use of magic here."

"What about wood?" Harry asked.

"We need twigs of various woods," she answered. It was easy to focus on something she knew well. "Twigs should be collected directly from living trees. Dead trees aren't bad per se, but they should be very old to serve as a base for powerful foci. In general, the older the tree is the better foci we would get out of it."

"We should start looking then," Harry said and began to walk away from the sea to the dark depths of the forest.

Hermione caught his hand, stopping him. "It seems the sun will stay up for about three hours. If we go looking for twigs together, we won't have any time left to light a fire and prepare for a night."

"She's right," Daphne agreed, wondering what would be safer, to go, or to stay. "Someone has to stay."

"I'll go," Harry said, "and you four stay here."

"Going alone isn't wise," Hermione observed. "Besides, either Daphne or I should come with you, because you have no idea what kind of twigs you'll have to be looking for."

Daphne thought about it for a few moments and suggested, "I think you should go with him, Hermione. Knowing your history, I'm sure you'll be able to work together more productively."

She failed to mention that the idea of wandering around in the unfamiliar and potentially dangerous forest stirred uneasiness in her. Staying close to the natural beach shielded by the cliffs seemed safer.

"Alright, Hermione, let's go," urged Harry.

Ginny moved closer to him and kissed her boyfriend softly. "Don't get lost," she said.

He smiled and kissed her back. "Don't worry, we'll come back."

"Here, take it," Hermione said giving Daphne some strange muggle thing. Hermione noticed her confusion and explained, "It's a muggle lighter. How would you light a fire without magic?"

"Why would you have the thing in your bag?"

Hermione shrugged. "Ever since I heard the prophecy, I decided to be prepared. Just in case."

And with that Harry and Hermione went into the forest. Daphne glanced around. The sky was clear and it didn't look as though it would rain; a simple campfire would do. There was enough brushwood lying on the ground around them, sadly completely unsuitable for wands.

"Let's gather some brushwood for a campfire," she suggested.

The redheads didn't protest, being aware of the importance of the task. Despite sharing the hair colour and beauty, Ginny was nothing alike Tracey. Where the former had an oval shaped face with brown eyes, the latter had blue eyes, a pointed chin and quite narrow hair line. Unlike Ginny's petite form, which allowed her to become a very good quidditch player, Tracey was as tall as Harry.

"Daphne?" Ginny said, uncertainly. "I didn't study theoretical magic, but... if magic density is so low here, is it possible to use magic at all?"

"Ambient magic isn't really necessary," Daphne replied. "It's merely another source. We produce magic ourselves and by staying close to each other we share our magic."

"So... if we stay together, we'll be able to use magic, right?"

Daphne glanced at her and answered, "Not exactly. I doubt you've ever felt magical fatigue, because the British Isles are the area with highest magic density in the world. It's as good as impossible to get magical exhaustion there. I can't say for sure without a wand, but there is a chance that you'll feel fatigue even after a single Reductor Curse."

The redhead's eyes widened. "But that's... that's practically no magic at all!"

"Can we do something to get more... magic?" Tracey asked, joining the conversation.

"Sure," Daphne replied. "A powerful focus in your hand will help. Making a blood wand means sacrificing someone's blood and that in turn makes blood wands the most powerful known foci. Back on the British Isles blood would provide too much power at the great cost of stability, making blood wands quite useless. In the underdeveloped areas, however, there is nothing better than a blood wand.

"If a blood wand won't be enough, we'll have to consider cultivating magical plants and breed magical creatures. Each magical plant and magical creature will produce magic for us. I'm unsure how to do it, though. Hermione knows, most likely. Anyway, the boost is, obviously, area restricted, but we may try to make staves to store more magic like wizards and witches of old did, when magic wasn't as widespread in our world as it is now.

"If Hermione doesn't know how to breed magical creatures or cultivate magical plants there is another option to consider. We, magicals, have always built structures of various sizes to collect and store ambient magic. Egyptian pyramids, Stonehenge, lots of ancient temples. Even Hogwarts was built to collect magic. The Founders wanted children to learn magic without exhausting themselves. Obviously, structures have even more area restricted effect than animals and plants. Besides they don't produce any magic per se.

"Finally we can draw magic from sacrifices. The simplest sacrifice is your own blood. Some creeps sacrifice their flesh. There is, however, no better source of magic than blood of an enemy forcibly taken. Some ancient magical staves had blades on one of the ends to spill blood in battles. Others used swords and other bladed weapons for the purpose. Magic is generally bloodthirsty, but the last few centuries of prosperity made the knowledge less... popular," Daphne concluded her short lecture.

"Merlin's pants!" Ginny exclaimed as she threw another armful of brushwood into the pile. "I should have taken N.E.W.T.-level theoretical magic class at Hogwarts."

Daphne shivered as a sudden gust of wind blew a few sticks off the pile of brushwood. The chilling sea-breeze was getting stronger and she wasn't looking forward to the night under the naked stars. Hopefully Harry and Hermione would find suitable twigs to make at least one wand tomorrow. One mischief always introduces another, however. Her stomach grumbled and complained. Daphne glanced around and noticed some shrub that looked like a berry plant on a hill not far from the campfire.

"Nah... It's not that exciting, actually." Daphne turned the lighter over, wondering how to use the muggle device. Then she opened the upper half of it and finally lit some brushwood.

Ginny sat at the fire and agreed, "Maybe you're right; summaries always seem interesting."

"I'll go check that plant. Perhaps I'll find something edible," Daphne said. "Find some more firewood; we'll need to keep the fire lit overnight."

She walked up the hill and went behind the shrub, where she could easily stand and harvest orange berries. The shrub looked a lot like a sea-buckthorn, but knowing that it wasn't her world anymore, Daphne couldn't be sure. She took one berry in her hand and channelled some magic into it, wishing to know if it's edible. A green glow of the berry indicated that it was indeed edible.

Feeling slightly exhausted, Daphne heaved a sigh of relief and, trying but often failing to avoid thorns, began to harvest berries, using her robe as a bag. She couldn't resist the temptation to eat some of the berries. They were ripe, tasted sweat-acid and left a dry feeling in her mouth. Daphne liked it though. Besides, she doubted they'd get much to eat without a wand.

Daphne wasn't sure how long she spent harvesting the berries; it was difficult enough because of the damn thorns. Thus she was surprised, when some commotion attracted her attention. She went to look, but stopped in her tracks as she saw a ship; lots of men from it were already ashore, even more were disembarking.

Berries fell to the ground as Daphne ducked quickly behind the shrub. She was looking at the redheads with a sinking feeling in her chest. Ginny and Tracey stood at the fire; they either hadn't seen the ship until it was too late or had stupidly waited for the men to disembark in some ridiculous hope that they would help.

Daphne wished she had had a wand, because without one she had no chance to help the two. The men wore armour, they were warriors. She knew better than expect any kindness from them. She wanted to shout for the two witches to flee, but she neither had courage nor believed it to be the right thing to do. She would only make the men aware of her. They would catch her and instead of two, the men would take all of them.

And so she did nothing, but looked as screaming and cursing Ginny and Tracey were taken and dragged to the ship. They were crying for help, but she ignored them, even if she had to close her ears with hands. It was the only way for her to stay out of it and, hopefully, inform Hermione and Harry about it. Oh Merlin, Harry! Daphne almost puked when she thought about his consequent reaction. He would blame her.

She looked at the redheads again; they were already aboard the ship. But what could she do? Nothing. Daphne felt useless. She shook her head and watched as the ship moved swiftly, taking two witches away. The main force of the men who had disembarked the ship, marched along the shore to the east. The best chance to rescue Tracey and Ginny was to follow these warriors, but she couldn't, she had to wait for Hermione and Harry.

Why did it have to happen now? Why not a day later when they would have at least one wand? She didn't want to think about what these men would do to both Ginny and Tracey. It was horrible enough that there was a chance that they wouldn't be found. However at the same time she was glad that she had gone to look for the berries. The thought disgusted her, but she couldn't help it. Self comes first.


	3. Hermione I

**A/N: There were really funny guest reviews. I want MOAR :)**

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**The Throne of Many Swords**

_by CreatorZorah_

Hermione I

Hermione had always preferred to be well prepared, no matter what the situation. The moment she had heard the prophecy, Hermione began her preparations. Knowing that Harry would end up being dragged into some mess, she had decided to stay close to him at all times. She knew that the prophecy like any other was very ambiguous and thus the more time she would spend with Harry, the higher would be the change of her being one of the five. She was practically forcing the prophecy to choose her as one of five.

She didn't do it because she wanted to be taken by the rift; Hermione did it because she wanted to help Harry, to be with him when he would need her the most. It cost her relationship with Ron; he gave up on trying after a few months, and she wasn't surprised. Hermione was expecting him to break up with her much earlier. No man would tolerate his girlfriend preferring company of another guy even if he was their best friend.

When the break up happened, it was painful, but at the same time she felt oddly relieved. Although she reasoned that she didn't want to drag him into the dangerous situation at first, she had to admit later, that there was more to it. She wasn't even sure, why she had been so focused solely on Ronald. It became obvious to her that her obsession with Ron was induced by the years of being a part of the Golden Trio.

She had had acquaintances outside of the trio, but it wasn't the same. Nobody else had faced all the trials and hardships as the trio. Strangely she hadn't even thought about it before the break up, she had went with the flow and if not for the prophecy she would most likely marry Ron. Sometimes she wondered if it was the case for Harry's relationship with Ginny too. On the other hand the two had so many similarities that it was unlikely the case.

Despite Harry being completely oblivious about it, Hermione's behaviour often provoked Ginny's ire. That didn't surprise Hermione either, because in Ginny's shoes, Hermione would also get angry if some woman would spend so much time with her boyfriend. The fact that Harry enjoyed Hermione's company didn't help either. In the end it became obvious to Ginny that there was most likely nothing romantic going on between Harry and Hermione, and she accepted that Hermione would play gooseberry. Harry didn't mind though.

And still Hermione could swear she had heard Ginny let out a pitiful groan, when Harry had offered Hermione to move in with them. Hermione had gladly accepted the offer. The only things Ginny hadn't had to share with Hermione were her money and her and Harry's bed. Although Hermione had been paranoid enough to play with the thoughts that sharing it might have been a good idea... until she had realized how insane the thoughts were and that she had had an unhealthy obsession with Harry's safety.

Hermione shook her head. What the hell was she thinking about? She had to focus on here and now. Finding suitable woods was critical for their survival. The time she had spent reading about wandlore was paying off.

When she had begun preparation for the possible unwanted journey, Hermione had tried to foresee every possible situation. She had gotten used to carrying her beaded purse filled with everything that could be helpful for their present situation. Books, food, various potion ingredients, weapons and much more. However, neither wand nor the purse got through the rift.

Hermione suspected that there was a chance of being stuck in a place of low magic density. She had known that there was a chance of losing her wand or the beaded handbag. Thus she had studied wandlore to be able to create a new wand, the theory behind portkeys and apparition to have a chance of getting back home. She had read books about creatures and plants that could produce magic and structures that could accumulate magic.

However despite all her efforts, Hermione didn't believe that she was well prepared. She knew that there had been so much more useful to learn.

"Hermione, how about those?" Harry asked suddenly.

Hermione glanced to the right. "Yews," she said studying the trees. "Those are very old, but yew wands are extremely picky of the owner."

"Let's get some twigs anyway," Harry suggested and glanced at the sky. "I think we should be going back after that."

She took a slow deep breath, inhaling pleasant bitter-sweet smell of the forest air with a hint of salt from the sea and nodded. They had to get back before the sun would set. The forest was dangerous enough without tempting fate by staying here after the sunset. They had seen a bloody bear in the forest. Thankfully wizards and witches had inherent ability to control non-magical animals to an extent, or rather to make them less hostile. However, a very hungry predator could attack nonetheless.

They collected a few twigs and headed back. Both of them carried armful of various twigs. Most of them would be useless, of course, but Hermione wasn't completely sure, which of the twigs could be used to create a wand. She hoped Daphne would know.

It was growing dark and it seemed as though they would never get to the shore. She hadn't realized that they had gone so far into the forest. Hermione was worried that they wouldn't get back in time. Although it wasn't difficult to move in the right direction thanks to the sea, it would be very difficult to walk through the forest in darkness. Not to mention that they met a few dangerous looking wild cats. Soon the sun disappeared below the horizon, but, fortunately, they saw light of fire.

"They lit the fire further from the sea than I expected," Hermione said with a frown as they were moving closer to the fire.

She didn't worry though, not until they came closer and saw that Daphne was the only person sitting at the fire. The blonde heard them, but didn't make a move. Instead she hung her head, look. An awful sinking feeling found its way into her chest.

"Where's Ginny?" Harry asked, sitting at the fire, obviously missing Daphne's body language.

Daphne whispered something inaudible. That was enough for Hermione to guess that something bad happened. She rushed to the blonde and put her hands on Daphne's shoulders.

"What happened?" Hermione asked.

"I was gathering berries and didn't see the ship until it was too late," Daphne said, her voice completely devoid of emotions. "An army of some sort disembarked and took Ginny and..."

"Is this some sort of joke?" Harry interrupted her, furrowing his eyebrows. "It's not funny."

Daphne shook her head. "I'm sorry, Harry."

It took Hermione a few seconds to process what Daphne had just said to them. She knew why Harry had asked if that was a joke. It was just impossible to accept that Ginny and Tracey had been kidnapped.

"I hid behind a shrub and couldn't do anything to help them," Daphne continued. "The warriors armed with swords marched along the shore, while the ship with Ginny and Tracey on board went out of the bay."

"You..." Harry hissed, standing up. "And you let them be taken just like this?"

"I couldn't do anything," Daphne said.

"Bullshit!" Harry moved to the blonde, but Hermione blocked his way, realizing that he wasn't thinking straight. "Why didn't they notice you then? Isn't it a little too convenient that you were able to hide your arse while Gin..."

"I said, I was gathering berries!"

"Fuck berries. Shove them up your arse! You just failed to warn them, when you ran away the moment you saw a ship. That's what you, snakes, normally do the best. You save your own useless butts."

Hermione slapped Harry on the face. They didn't have time to fight each other. If the army went along the shore, it was their best option to follow them wherever they went in the hope of finding and saving Ginny and Tracey.

"Shut up!" Daphne shouted out. "You know absolutely nothing about me, Potter! Tell me, what should I have done without a wand? Without magic against dozens of armed muggles?! If I hadn't gone to gather berries, I'd be taken with them and you would know neither where to look for us nor who had taken us."

"Calm down, both of you," Hermione said.

"How, for Merlin's sake, should I calm down?!" Harry asked. "They..."

"I know, Harry. We'll find them, but first we should calm down and think how to do it."

The wizard growled and softly pushed Hermione away. He paced hither and thither, his fists clenched in anger. Truth be told, Hermione wasn't completely convinced by Daphne's story either. As Harry said, it was too convenient.

Daphne had been working at the Ministry ever since she had graduated, and Hermione knew her well. Although the blonde had been rather helpful in pushing through a few laws for Hermione, the young head of the Greengrass family wasn't known for doing anything that wouldn't benefit her. She was a very good politician and had been one at Hogwarts. When the Malfoys were influential, sight of her in company with Draco wasn't unusual; however unlike Parkinson, Nott and Zabini she had never insulted anyone. She was like a ghost. There, but not quite.

The moment the Malfoys had lost their influence after his father's fiasco at Department of Mysteries, Daphne had put a distance between herself and Draco. Hermione doubted that Draco had noticed her sudden disappearance. At the same time Daphne hadn't taken sides during the Second Wizarding War, but had become famous for being a fierce advocate for anti-purist movement after that.

It wouldn't be out of character for Daphne to abandon Ginny and Tracey if she had deemed that to be the best course of action even though there had been, perhaps, a chance to save them. Daphne wouldn't betray, of course, but she wouldn't take risks either.

Hermione wasn't going to voice her doubts, however. Not now, when they needed to act as fast as possible to retrieve Ginny and Tracey.

"How much time passed since then?" Hermione asked.

"About two hours," Daphne answered and looked at the pile of twigs. "We have to make at least one wand before we go."

"We can't linger here any longer!" Harry said, kicking spare brushwood in frustration. "Fuck!"

"And what do you propose?" Daphne asked. "How should we save them without magic? Will you fight dozens well trained swordsmen using these sticks?"

Hermione looked at Daphne and asked, "Will it take long to make a wand?"

The blonde shrugged. "Depends... If we're lucky with the wood you two brought, then it'll take a few minutes."

"Then, let's stop wasting time," Harry said.

Daphne didn't say anything; instead she went to the pile of twigs and began to sort through them. Hermione wasn't sure what the blonde was exactly doing, because her own knowledge of wandlore was quite limited. At first Daphne just looked at each stick and threw a half away. Then she bent them and put aside another pile of sticks.

"These will do," she said finally. "Have you got a knife?"

Hermione nodded and handed Daphne a silver folding knife. The magical one hadn't gone through the rift, unfortunately. The blonde opened it and starred at her palm in hesitation. Then she gritted her teeth and made a small cut on her hand. A blood sacrifice, Hermione realized, as Daphne began to gather her blood in her hands.

"Do the same, but don't make a bloody mess, don't cut too deep," Daphne hissed.

Harry, eager to do something, cut his hand with a knife and handed gave it to Hermione. She glanced at the knife, then at her palm. Hermione bit on her lip and made a cut.

"Now, pour your blood into the fire and chant the incantation: 'En-sac-ri-fi-cio Ig-nis'."

"Ensacrificio Ignis," the three said at the same time pouring their blood into the fire.

Hermione had never done a blood sacrifice before and wasn't prepared for sudden rush of magic. Ever since they had ended up in this world, she had felt rather weak as though she hadn't eaten anything for a day or two, but now, she felt power swirling inside of her. Hermione knew that she had her magic back.

"Perfect," Daphne said. "Bring your hands over the twigs, channel some of your magic into the twigs through your hands, trying to focus on the idea of having a perfect twig for your wands,."

Hermione closed her eyes and brought her hand over the twigs. This was nothing new for Hermione. Wandless magic was extremely limited, but Hermione was relatively adept at it. One of the twigs flew right into her hand. She recognized the wood. Ash. It looked crude and quite large, about fifty centimetres long, but considering magic density of this world, the size was an advantage.

"We're extremely lucky," Daphne muttered.

Hermione glanced at Harry who was studying his yew twig, then at Daphne. "Why?"

"I didn't expect that all of us would get one." Daphne waved her oak twig. "You'll need more blood to coat your twigs with it."

Hermione hissed in pain as she reopened the wound and began coating the stick with her blood. She knew that the wand wouldn't be very reliable, but they needed at least something to survive and save Ginny and Tracey. It wasn't the time to be picky about the wand.

"Now drop your twigs into the fire, chanting the incantation: 'Fo-i-gne-san-gus'."

"Foignesangus," they said at the same time, letting fall into the fire.

Hermione expected the twigs to burn, but instead there was a bright flash of light, the fire almost died down, as though consumed by the sticks, which flew right in the hands of their respective owners. The moment Hermione touched her twig; it produced a few blood-red sparks. No, it wasn't a twig anymore. It was a wand. Her new wand.

"Lumos." The tip of Hermione's wand glowed. She smiled happily and whispered, "Nox."

Wasting magic wasn't a good idea, but it was dark, and they needed some light to follow those men who kidnapped Ginny and Tracey. She took a large stick from the ground, pointed her wand at it and said, "Aeterignus." The spell lit the tip of the stick on fire that wouldn't die for hours.

"Let's go," Harry said impatiently.


End file.
